Sam Salvati Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Back to the technicality of the project. I jumped up to 80 grit after roughing everything out on the 60. This is far as I will go before heat treat. If you are draw filing, by now you might be hand sanding and I would suggest going to 120 grit to make things easier after heat treat. Here it is after 60 grit, the bevel side The flat side Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 The hardest areas where I get a little squemish are the base of the blade and the tip areas so I move up to the slack belt and finish those areas there. I tip I read from Kevin Cashen (thanks Kevin!) on slack belt grinding, If you hold the blade flat against the belt edge up with light pressure, you can preserve the nice crisp bevel line and get pretty close to a flat grind (LIGHT PRESSURE is the key for as close to a flat grind as you want). I turn up the belt tension a good bit too and use fresh belts. Working on the slack belt above the platen Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 All the grinding is finished, got almost all the scale marks removed, all the grinds are nice and even and the bevel is straight, all the scratches are even 80 grit. The last step I do is to scotch brite all the polished areas(not for any particular reason). And the finished ground blade The bevel side And the flat side Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 WHEW another long day!!!! Our forged knife is now all ground and clean and is ready for heat treat. I kept a careful eye again here not to run any heat colors on the blade while grinding. I am not actually sure just what this does other than it is poor practice IMHO. If you are running a belt grinder and this keeps happening then you are running your belt speed too fast or are using abrasives that are wore out. Use belts like they are free and slow your grinder down if you can, if not dip your blade more often. This is it for part 2, I will continue with part 3 which will include heat treating and finish grinding and polishing, might take a part 4 to finish it up with mounting and sharpening. Again hope you enjoyed so far! Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) haha, respirator but no glasses can't say I haven't done that.. nice tutorial, I'm making a double beveled one for a friend right now thanks sam Haha yeah, I tried to edit that out where I could , honest I just took it off for a second there for the picture . SAFETY FIRST Edited December 29, 2008 by Sam Salvati Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIXFOOTER Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Excellent How To, please keep going, this is the stuff I wans to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D. Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Killer quality work Sam! Well worth the effort documenting this, looks awesome! And your shop setup is looking great to. keep at the awesome work! I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend" J.R.R. Tolkien www.CedarloreForge.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Potter Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Looking good, Thanks for taking the time to put the pics together. Ben Potter Bladesmith It's not that I would trade my lot Or any other man's, Nor that I will be ashamed Of my work torn hands- For I have chosen the path I tread Knowing it would be steep, And I will take the joys thereof And the consequences reap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) Excellent How To, please keep going, this is the stuff I wans to learn. Thank you SF, I will continue again next weekend with part 3 and part 4! Thanks guys, Ben, I really liked your seax tutorial thanks for that. Edited December 29, 2008 by Sam Salvati Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike W Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Looks awesome so far! I miss my forge... Still moving. One thing - before adding the bevel, some people curve the blade around the horn a bit before adding the bevels to avoid having to bang on the bevels so much to straighten the blade. Personal preference I suppose. I'm still learnin tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 (edited) Thanks Mike, I know what you mean, moving SUCKS. I don't precurve, I never could get the hang of it and my way of straightening works well so I have no desire to try it, when the bevels go all wavy from straightening I just smack em with the 2x4, they straighten right out. Do it hot and you are shaping the metal instead of just bending it back and forth. Edited December 30, 2008 by Sam Salvati Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPeterson Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Nice work on that blade. I've always heard about how japanese blades with one bevel could cut extremely thin slices and it was nice to see this demonstration. Wes Peterson www.wpbladesmith.com Southeast Georgia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sheffield Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Cool Sam. Thanks for the info. I will have to agree your bevels are very nice. My life is like shaving with a razor sharp machete. It's a bit awkward and I feel a sting every now and then, but in the end I'm happy with the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Thanks very much guys! I was stuck finishing some hammers last weekend so could not get to finishing up this knife, hopefully this weekend though. Amazing how one drill bit can hold up an entire project . Pnemox, I have been using my Sashimi type chef's knife with the convex back edge for awhile now and even with the convex back edge it is still capable of very thin slices. I look forward to trying out this one with the flat back edge, maybe will get even thinner slices. Mike, thanks very much. To tell the honest truth I am not sure what it is I do different that allows for such crisp bevels, I just bang away as if I were forging a coat hook or something. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ty Murch Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Sam, very nice tutorial in progress. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Víctor Zamora Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 As I said before, you have the bevel touch in forging Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIXFOOTER Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sixfooter, I finally got the drill bit I needed, should get back to finishing this tutorial this weekend. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIXFOOTER Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Patiently waiting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Thanks for waiting so patiently Six, here is part 3 enjoy! It is going to go a bit longer than expected, as there are MANY steps and I want to cover each part as much as possible. I got out of work today so I decided to get some time in the shop (after a nap). As usual, there are many ways to do things, this is just the way that I do them. Part 3 has to do with making the handle. I started with a block of dark wood, I have to ask who I got it from what it is exactly, nice stuff though. First I start out by marking the end of the wood so I know how and where to put my hole for the tang. This style of hilting is known as hidden tang or stub tang. I don't really do it too precisely by like breaking out the calipers and stuff, I just eagle eye it. First I center the tang on the end of the handle piece and scribe the lines onto the end. I mark first for thickness, then mark for width and where they transect it will make a rectangle and that is where you will make the hole for your tang. Marking the wood for tang thickness, centered on the wood (i know they look a bit off center, this was a second piece of wood I had to mark after I already did the first one) Marking the wood for tang width The rectangle formed in the center is where you will drill your pilot holes. I drill two pilot holes on either end of the rectangle, then inserting the drill bit and holding the handle wood I sort of use the drill bit as a milling bit and wear the center web away. I also made up a little chisel to help me square up the slot as the drill bit gives you rounded corners on your slot. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Here is the slot with the web between the holes wore away, you can see the rounded corners of the hole. Here is some shots of the little chisel. And a shot of the tang hole with square corners from using the chisel. Now the tang is fit, and slides into the slot pretty easily. To get a perfect wedge fit though I will heat up the end of the tang and put it in the slot and press the two together. This sort of burns in an imprint of the tang's almost exact shape, as well as burns it into the hole more. You only need a little heat, too much and you will make your hole oversized. GO CAREFULLY, you can always remove more material but if you remove too much you can't put it back. If you chisel or drill or burn out too much it will make the fit sloppy, ideally your final fit should be tight enough that it will not need epoxy (but it is always good to go the extra careful step and epoxy everything together). Start heating just the end of the tang, than as you go heat more of it up each time. I only had to do 4 hot fits to get a perfect wedge fit. As you can see only a little bit of smoke, not PLUME AFTER PLUME of it, this is due to the fact that I only used just enough heat to seat the tang in the slot. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 After I get a basic rough fit, I will take the handle block to the grinder for profile shaping. Again this is a go slow and careful step, you can always take more off but not put it back on. It was very risky business starting with a block so small (roughly 1 inch square), as it left little room for adjustment but everything worked out OK, I do however suggest starting with a larger block first to leave yourself some room to play and adjust as needed. Start first with the rough grit Then a finer grit, you don't have to go too far yet this is only rough shaping for now. And there is where we are at so far, I chose to go with the octagon shaped handle. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) I then had to make the bolster. I chose some of this blue/green corian I had (thanks Kurt!), while I would have liked to use black buffalo horn which would have been more traditional also, I just do not have any, the corian is nice stuff though I have seen it on modern sashimi type knives. I mark it the same way I marked the handle wood, mark and scribe for thickness and width. I marked this one twice for width by accident. And here is the marked piece, again the rectangle in the center is where the slot will be. Drill the holes A bit of filing, and profiling on the band saw and you have a rough bolster (sorry the pictures get crappy all of a sudden I had to take them here at home) And here is where we are at, we have the handle and bolster shaped up and ready, the blade has yet to be heat treated that will come in part 4. Bevel side Flat side And that is it for part 3. Part 4 which will involve heat treating, maybe finish grinding and polishing and final assembly will come next. Edited January 23, 2009 by Sam Salvati Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Turns out the handle wood is Brazilian mahogany. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 This is turning out really well Sam, I always love these kind of in depth tutorials. Thanks and keep them coming . Josh Forrest Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts